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Archives for Democracy Forum

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine
Engineer: Amy Browne
Primary Elections: What Are They Good For?
-How have primaries changed over the last 50 years?
-Are they still working for the parties and the voters?
-What changes are on the horizon in Maine?

We’ll talk about what’s changed in Maine since the 2016 presidential election.
How have the policies of the new administration affected Maine politics and people?

Guests:
Hannah Pingree, a Democrat, former Speaker of the House in Maine, now co-host of the Maine Event on Maine Public television. pingree.com/
Josh Tardy, a Republican lobbyist and attorney who served as chair of the 2016 Trump campaign in Maine www.mitchelltardyjackson.com/about/

We talk about the state of the two party system, how recent trends have weakened the parties even as partisanship has grown, whether our political parties threaten our democracy or hold the main hope for its salvation.

Key Discussion Points:
We’ll talk about the history and evolution of the census,
Why it’s important,
Who uses census data,
What’s being planned for 2020,
What problems are on the horizon, and
Why the census matters in Maine.

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine
Engineer: Amy Browne
Civil Discourse: Can We Still Do It?

What civil discourse looks like?
Why does it seems to be so hard right now?
How can we practice it ourselves?
What can we to do encourage it in our leaders and public servants here in Maine?

Guests:
Tomas Spath, co-founder of the Institute for Civility in Government
Matt Motyl, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois – Chicago
Andrew Rudalevige, the Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College

Key Discussion Points:
We’ll talk about the proliferation of news sources in the internet age
The role of independent journalism in a liberal democracy
The challenges for citizens in finding real news. b)

To learn more about this topic:
Study: Breitbart-led right-wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda, Columbia Journalism Review, March 3, 2017
The Real Story About Fake News Is Partisanship, The Upshot, New York Times, January 11, 2017
There’s an intriguing sociological reason so many Americans are ignoring facts lately, Business Insider, February 27, 2017